Pilot

Episode aired Oct 5, 1962
1h

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

YOUR RATING

William Windom in The Gallant Men (1962)

Action Drama War

American Fifth Army captain Jim Benedict leads his company in a beach assault at Salerno, as Allied forces begin their push up the Italian peninsula. William Windom guest-stars as a disgrace... Read allAmerican Fifth Army captain Jim Benedict leads his company in a beach assault at Salerno, as Allied forces begin their push up the Italian peninsula. William Windom guest-stars as a disgraced major now serving incognito as a private in Benedict's unit -- a soldier determined to a... Read allAmerican Fifth Army captain Jim Benedict leads his company in a beach assault at Salerno, as Allied forces begin their push up the Italian peninsula. William Windom guest-stars as a disgraced major now serving incognito as a private in Benedict's unit -- a soldier determined to atone for transgressions committed earlier in the war during the North Africa campaign.

Director
- Robert Altman
Writers
- James Merriam Moore
- Halsted Welles
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

YOUR RATING

Director
- Robert Altman
Writers
- James Merriam Moore
- Halsted Welles
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos8

+ 3

User reviews2

8.124

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Series Premiere

Director Robert Altman's final association with Warner Brothers' TV-production unit resulted in this successful 1962 pilot, which featured William Windom in a guest-starring role as an Army private with an interesting past. The episode begins with a beach assault at Salerno and ends as the Allies' drive inland to within striking distance of San Pietro.

Though the action sequences are well-enhanced with stock footage from older war films -- William Wellman's "Darby's Rangers" (1958) and Michael Curtiz's "Force of Arms" (1951) -- the quieter scenes are also handled deftly. Altman skillfully introduces the series' regulars who will figure in future episodes: the crooning Italian-American lover-boy Private D'Angelo (Eddie Fontaine); the stocky, barrel-chested Private Lucavich (Roland LaStarza); wisecracking Private Hanson (Robert Gothie); and the Tennessee mountain-boy radio specialist Private Gibson (Roger Davis)..